Receptacle closure



Oct. 11 1927.

w E. c. SEWARD RECEPTACLE CLOSURE Filed Dec. 20. 1924 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 11, 1927.

UNITED STATES FICE.

EDWARD C. SEWARD, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB TO PARAGON CAN & GA]? COMPANY, INC., 01 PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

aEcEP'rAcLE crlosuim.

Application filed December .20, 1924. Serial No. 757,240.

This invention relates to an improvement in receptacle closures and, more particularly, closures such as are used in connection with bottles, jars, and the like, containing foods, for example, catsup.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved closure which is adapted to be applied to the receptacle with a substantially hermetic seal and which, after the seal is broken and the closure removed, may con tinue to be used as an ordinary closure until the contents are exhausted.

Another object consists in providing such a closure in which the operation resulting in the substantially hermetic seal may very simply be performed with known devices.

Another object consists in providing such a closure in which the element or member that holds the closure in its substantially hermetic sealing engagement may very easily be loosened manually without the necessity of employing any tools.

Another object consists in providing; such a closure in which the element that-holds the closure in its substantially hermetic sealing engagement may be stripped from the receptacle and from the remainder of the closure by an easily exerted manual operation,

. without the necessity of employing any tools,

and thereby leave both the receptacle and closure free of any unsightly encumbrance or appearance. Another object consists in providing certain improvements in the form, construction andarrangement of the several parts 1 whereby the above named and other objects may be effectively attained.

A practical embodiment of the-invention is represented in the accompanying draw ings, in which 2 f Fig. lrepresents a detail side view, partly in section, showing the closure in sealing engagement upon the neck of a-glass receptacle, the sealing strips-being shownin unsealed position in dotted lines' Fig. 2 represents..a si-milar yiew showing the opposite side of the parts.

Fig. 3 represents a section taken in the plane of the line III-III of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

The main body portion of the cap is denoted'by 1, and it may suitably be composed of some sheet metal, such as tin, which has preferably been coated upon both sides with some anticorrosive substance, such as lacquer,

screwing it onto or unscrewing it from the receptacle. 4

The top of the cap is denoted by 5, and it also may satisfactorily be composed of sheet tin coated in the same-manner as the body portion.

Any desired form of decoration, such as llthographing, may be applied to the outer surface of the top or body portion.

The body portion 1 and top 5 are united by an interlocking seam marked 6, which operation may be performed by a die, as is well understood in this art.

It may be stated. that the seams which unite the edges of the body portion and which also join the top to the body portion are folded so. as to cover and conceal the edges of the material.

It is desirable to depress the central portion of the top 5, as clearly shown in the drawings, and to provide the under side of the same with a suitable sealing disc 7 which may conveniently be composed of cork composition, rubber compound, or other satisfactory yielding material. By forming the top 5 with a depressed center, the screwing of the closure onto the receptacle tends to force the sealing disc 7 not only against the outer edge of the neck of the receptacle, but also, to a slight extent, down within the neck of the receptacle. This is a feature of advantage because it imparts a wedge-like action to the mutual engagement of the disc 7 with the receptacle 3, thereby affording a very tight seal; and also because'it enables the disc 7 to cover any tiny fissures which may exist in the neck of the receptacle just below its extreme outer edge, and thereby prevent leakage.

The lower part of the body portion 1 of the closure includes a pair of depending strips 8, 9, each of which is made readily separable from the said body portion by means of scored or otherwise weakened lines 10, 11.

These strips 8, 9- are preferably oppositely disposed with respect to each other, and each one has a tongue 12, 13 which is intended for manual gripping in order that the strips may readily be separated from the closure body.

It has been mentioned that the body portion of the closure is preferably provided with a screw thread, and I prefer that this thread shall be relatively shallow in comparison with the thread on the receptacle, so that the closure may be applied to the receptacle by a direct axial movement, without any turning, all as set forth in United States patent to R. A. Russell, No. 1,311,419, dated July 29, 1919. As pointed out in said patent, while this form of thread is sulficiently shallow to permit the operation Just stated, it is sufiiciently deep so as to take hold of the thread on the receptacle and enable the closure to be screwed on and off, manually, in the usual manner, when desired.

The various parts are so proportioned that, when the closure is placed firmly in sealing engagement with the receptacle, the

strips 8, 9 will be coincident with the usual beading 14 that is formed on receptacles of this nature.

With the closure in this last named pos1- tion, it is a simple matter for the strips 8, 9 to be acted upon by seaming or spinning rollers, or by gripping jaws, so as to crimp their lower edges underneath the heading 14, as clearly shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2. It should be observed, at this juncture, that the lower edges of the stamps 8, 9 are shown in their original cylindrical form in dotted lines in these figures.

The act of thus spinning or bending the strips 8, 9 around underneath. the heading 14 sets up a firm locking engagement between the receptacle and the closure so as to hold the said parts in substantially hermetically sealedcondition, thereby prevent ing the access of air to the contents of the receptacle.

It is intended that the package constituted by the receptacle and closure Will be shipped and stored in sealed condition. When it is received by the consumer, it is only necessary for the latter to insert the thumbnail beneath the end of the tongue 12 or 13 and bend the same backwardly upon its strip in order to obtain a firm gri thereupon. Continuation of this manua motion will tear the said strip 8 or 9 away from the body portion 1 at the scored 0r weakened line 10 or 11. This operation is then repeated with respect to the other strip 8 or 9, as the case may be. The removal of these strips breaks the locked sealing enused as an ordinary closure until the contents of the receptacle have been consumed.

By preference, the ends of the strips 8, 9 adjacent the seam 2 are brought into close juxtaposition. This has the advantage of causing the overlapping tongue 13 to project tangentially away from the closure and thereby more readily present itself to the hand of the consumer.

It will be clear that these strips 8, 9 may to present itself to the hand of the consumer.

The provision of this plurality of strips 8, 9, as distinguished from a continuous strip or band skirting the circumference of the closure, is regarded as of importance because it greatly facilitates the separation of the strips from the closure proper. l'Vhen a continuous circumferential band has been employed, some difficulty has been experienced arising from the fact that it is not always easy to tear such a long strip away from the receptacle and closure by simply holding onto the tongue at one end thereof. If, however, the consumers grip is changed, so as to take hold of the band proper after it has been partly removed, an uncomfortabl grip is encountered and there is danger of cutting the hand on the edge of the band, particularly that edge which has been crimped under the heading 14. Furthermore, such a long band frequently tears ofi' somewhat irregularly and-thereby causes the remaining closure to present an unsightly appearance, as well as danger of abrading the skin of the consumer when the closure is intermittently removed from and applied to the receptacle while the contents are being consumed.

By my arrangement of a plurality of strips, the consumer has a clean grip on a tongue of each relatively short strip and the difficulties above named are overcome.

Wh1le I have described the closure as being provided with a screw thread and. par- Russell Patent No. 1,311,419, it should be stated that my arrangement of a plurality of strips may be employed in connection with an unthreaded closure, and the latter used as a slip cover after it has been unsealed from the receptacle. This arrangement, however, is not as satisfactory because such a slip cover does not make nearly as good a temporary seal for the receptacle while the contents are being consumed; and be- .ticularly, a screw thread of the kind in R. A. 3

cause there is some danger of such a slip cover flying ofi the receptacle when it is unsealed by tearing away the strips 8, 9

It will be understood that various changes may be resorted to inthe form, construction, composition and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention; and hence, I do not intend to be limited to the details herein shown and described, except as they are included in the claim.

What I claim is:

A sheet metal receptacle closure comprising a to portion, a cylindrical body portion, an a plurality of sealing strips, said sealing strips bein connected around substantially the who e circumference of the lower-edge of the cylindrical body portion by a connection such that they may be manually removed therefrom, each said strip having an end adapted to be grasped and pulled in order to remove the strip from the body portion, and each strip further being arranged to be removed circumferentially in EDWARD o. SEWARD. 

